How Much Land Does a Man Need? and Other Stories [with Biographical Introduction]

by Leo Tolstoy, Nathan Haskell Dole (Translator), Louise Maude (Translator)

In this collection, "How Much Land Does a Man Need? And Other Stories," Russian born Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) demonstrates his varied subject matter and style in his shorter fiction. In the title piece, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?," Tolstoy explores this very question through the story of a peasant with an increasing appetite for land. In "What Men Live By," the humble shoemaker Simon sets out to collect money to pay for new coats for the family. "A Spark Neglected Burns the House" is a parable examining the process of reconciliation. Also included are "Two Hussars," "Where Love is," "God Is," "Two Old Men," and "A Prisoner in the Caucasus," some of Tolstoy's finest early work. Though Tolstoy is widely known for "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina," considered two of the greatest novels in world literature, his short stories remain valuable classics in their own regards.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Short Stories, Russian Literature, Russia, Literature, Philosophy

116 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1886

About the author

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Лев Николаевич Толстой; most appropriately used Liev Tolstoy; commonly Leo Tolstoy in Anglophone countries) was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist fiction. Many consider Tolstoy to have been one of the world's greatest novelists. Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became noted as a moral thinker and social reformer.

His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist. His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal twentieth-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reviews

[Mark André · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in high school English class when I was sixteen. What did we know? But I still remember it 50-some years later. Go Tolstoy!
10.04.25 reread. Maybe a little simple, but certainly imaginative. Helps not knowing the ending: the irony, the surprise. I like how the Devil got snuck into the tale. Still 🌟🌟🌟🌟, not five.

[Unknown Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve heard about Leo Tolstoy before, read and studied a poem of his for my English class and did a whole 8-10 pages long project on him and his works.
So, I’m kinda familiar with him, but this would be the first proper book I’ve read from him and I have to say….
I’m terribly disappointed.

There are total of 9 short stories in this book and most of them are either outside my reading comprehension or simply boring -

1. The wood felling - this is a short historical record/experience from a solider in war. This is both outside my reading comprehension and boring. 1/5, perhaps war stories are not for me .

2. Two Hussars - basically old generation (father) vs new generation (son) on same situation (seducing? Charming? A girl) where the first one is a gentleman and kinda successful and the latter one is..not. A critique on new generation ? Either way..boring. 1/5, personally offended that the new generation is shown to be rude and obnoxious

3. How much land does a man need ? - The story of a man who is never satisfied with the land he has. A classic tale on greed where the main character is both greedy and stupid. Not a bad story though. 3/5, would it be the same ending if the mc was smarter ?

3. Where love is, god is - the main character, a husband and father in grief finds comfort in helping others. he also thinks he should treat everyone like god, because ‘Christ can be anyone’. and since this is a fictional story, everyone he helped just happened to be Christ in disguise . 1/5, I’m religious but not this religious

4. What men live by - another religious story. This one was also boring and too similar to previous one. Plus, the message has gone over my head. 1/5, religious moral stories are not for me

5. Neglect a spark and the house burns down - Story about enmity between 2 neighbor pa which has escalated to a toxic state. Hmm…I guess it’s better than others. But some stuff doesn’t sit right with me. I can see how Ivan’s hatred had blinded him from saving his own household. Instead of putting out the fire, he instead chased the one who set the fire. But…hisneighbor is still at blame ?? Why did Ivan’s father ignore this ?? . 2.5/5, don’t agree with the ending but I can understand the lesson

6. Raid - Another war story, this time about some raid. 1/5, not for me….or anyone

7. A Prisoner of Caucasus - yup, another war story. I can see a pattern here. Anyway, this one is apparently a true story of a prisoner who was captured and escaped. Nothing special and pretty boring. 1/5, shouldn’t have bothered reading it

Overall Rating - 1/5 , a total waste of time on basic moral stories and war stories. Unless you’re a fan of those…or an extremely religious person..I don’t see how anyone will like this.

[Kennedy Ifeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is 519 words yet its meaning can span a 1000 pg novel. The plot is about a man who is told to walk on a vast expense of land, the amount he walks will be given to him. The condition was that he returns to the point of departure. Out of greed he walks and covers a vast land mass. Getting to the point of depature, he suddenly falls and dies. The elders dug a six foot grave and buries him there, "exactly the amount of land a man needs". Five star for 519 words!!!

[Shelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am am sad because I am only rating this book 3 stars because to me it was kind of boring. One thing that I liked was the different stories that was told. Every story was different. That was really the only thing that I like about this book. Sometimes I kind of got loss on what is happening, so I had to reread those parts. I think it should been a little bit more interesting and also better to read. I really had no choice of reading it because I had to read this for English class.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of short stories with tales from the Caucasus bookending a middle section of religious parables. I am not at all religious but I did find that the holy tales resonated - they were more do as you would be done by than overt holy Joe stuff.

Solid if unspectacular fare - 3/5

[Whitney Sorensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tolstoy has amazing powers of description, as seen in all of these short stories. I loved the morals taught in the stories Where Love Is, God Is, The Two Old Men, What Men Live By, and all the others. Good reminders of what is really important in life.

[Joana Doko · Rating 5 out of 5]

What man live by, I think it's the most beautiful short story ever written. I absolutely loved this book. So much philosophy, so much wisdom in it. I have always known Leo Tolstoy is a great writer, but this convinced me even more.

[Padiecakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pakhom's story definitely makes sense. And it's not only entertaining, but also universal. When they say fiction is better than nonfiction in a sense that it really makes one think and reflect, I think this story can be used as an example to prove that.

"How Much Land Does a Man Need?" demonstrates how greed and wanting too much could lead to our own demise. The Bashkirs represent friends who cheer us on to choose battles that may not necessarily be the battles for us, but there's no ill intention, this story just shows us to really reflect and discern on what we really want, what's important, and what matters.

The descriptive end is something that will stick to me and that's why the 'didacticness' of this book really hit me.

[TICSUCM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but amazing. It shows the ambition of humans.

[Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for Two Hussars alone, the first glimpses of Leo flipping intuitively between male and female psyches... also it's so goofy, parts of it read like an episode of Entourage, with the narrative structure of The Place Beyond The Pines... yet written acutely from the female perspective! How bout that!

Also loved The Prisoner of Caucasus, totally roaring prison break buddy comedy, imagine the Coen brothers doing a version of this one -

And for all their shortcomings i freakin love the old fables - Two Old Men and the titular story, How Much Land Does A Man Need, stand out... Homey was tryin to rewrite the bible and probably succeeding?

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blessed are the shoemakers, seems to be the underlying message in these stories. And if they are to inherit the earth, hopefully they are not stuck with the dangerous Caucasian regions.

[Tobias Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

fiction ftl

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of mostly moralistic tales with the prevailing precepts of being kind to everyone you meet for every human being down to the most humble and destitute is a manifestation of God, to be generous and to shun greed and selfishness. I skipped around and read the stories out of order, saving “Two Hussars” for last since it is the longest in the collection and I suspected would be the most satisfying. In this novella, we catch those sketches of the internal turmoil of his characters that so typify Tolstoy’s genius, in my opinion- his ability to capture the complexity and range of human emotion with such incisiveness and poignancy. In the scene of Liza sitting at her window gazing at the moonlight, we are transported completely into her psyche, her longings and disappointments, as “the natural life around her, dying and renewing itself with the changing seasons and in the midst of which, loving and loved herself, she had grown up—everything that had brought such joy and contentment to her soul now struck her as nothing, as wearisome and unnecessary.” She yearns for magic and ideal love, but is awoken to the harsher reality of the vulgar and mundane, typified by the young count: “ ‘No, he’s not the one,’ she told herself. Her ideal was someone beautiful, someone who could be loved on such a night as this, in such a setting, without disturbing its beauty—an ideal that had never been debased to fit crude reality.” It is also a tale of the passage of time and all that has been lost, of some bygone era the narrator recounts of a Russia where romance and chivalry prevailed, and it is a tale of lost youth, missteps, misunderstandings and embarrassment. This is the Tolstoy that leaves you thirsty for more.

[Falko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tatsächlich hatte ich das Buch lange nicht angerührt, da ich die Geschichte "Der Schneesturm" zu kennen glaubte und der Meinung war, ich hätte es schon gelesen.
Ich kenne aber "Der Schneesturm" von Puschkin und habe es daher verwechselt (von Sorokins "Der Schneesturm" fangen wir erst gar nicht an).

Das war also mein erster Einblick in das Schaffen von Tolstoi (Polikuschka und Anna Karenina habe ich noch da).

Von den Erzählungen (Der Schneesturm, Die drei Tode, Luzern, Albert) war eine schöne als die andere.
Es geht um Werte, Ränge, Anstand, Moral, Scheitern.
Ich habe definitiv Lust auf mehr.


Lieblingsstelle:
"Alle die verworrenen zufälligen Eindrücke des Lebens gewannen für mich plötzlich Bedeutung und Reiz. In meiner Seele waren gleichsam eine frische, duftende Blume aufgegangen. An Stelle der Müdigkeit, der Zerstreutheit und der Gleichgültigkeit gegen alle Dinge in der Welt, die ich noch vor einer Minute empfunden hatte, spürte ich plötzlich ein Bedürfnis nach Liebe, eine Fülle der Hoffnung und eine grundlose Lebensfreude." (Luzern)

[Davoud Kamyabfar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I my opinion, the best episode of all shorts stories have been told in the book, is the story which the book has borrowed its name, as “ how much land does a man need ?”. The title is raising a vital question which you are dealing with it everyday in your life, how of it do i need for Living? And its depend on how do you want to Live! Thats take you to a philosophical journey that you might have started since very early age and God knows till when will answer it....

I am not sure how old was Tolstoy when he wrote this book, but I feel he might have kind of deep and settled spiritual situation, taking to account he is referring to the Bible in some the stories and he is addressing of his religious believes.

I would say, I found a significant difference in Two Hussar with the rest for stories in this book. But what i will definitely remember from this book is the name of the book and story behind it....

[Kale M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

For "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"

"A moment's pain can be a lifetime's gain" but what if that's the pain that will take your life away. Main takeaway: Do not fall into the cycle of envy, greed, and pride for self-satisfaction.

For "What Men Live By."

The three truths revealed to Mikhail by God.

Q1: What dwells in man?
Ans: It is love that dwells in man.

Q2: What is not given to man?
Ans: It is not given to him to know his bodily needs.

Q3: What [do] men live by?
Ans: Men live not by selfishness, but by love.

In short, "all men live not by what they may intend for their own well-being, but by the the love that dwells in others."

P.S. I read the Penguin Little Black Classics which contained these two stories. I highly recommend you get a copy yourself.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good compilation short stories, could easily read in a few hours on a train journey. I really enjoyed the moral tones, which illustrates how, in the end, we only need 6ft of ground. Of course, in our times, it is probably better to substitute 'land' for 'wealth', but the point is a long known one. This is classic later Tolstoy, as after his reversion, he very much had a 'Franciscan' view of life and Christianity, taking a stand against greed.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of Tolstoy at his best and worst.

“How much land does a man need?,” “Where love is, God is,” “What men live by,” and “Two old men” are all powerful meditations on humanity, faith, and Christianity. The rest of the stories are his earliest works and are forgettable. It is interesting to see the great writer at the beginning and end of his craft.

Overall, some of these stories are a great introduction to Tolstoy and others should be skipped except by the most ardent fan.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Half of these stories I detested. The other half were very good. Basically, I liked the stories having to do with war and the Caucasus, specifically "The Woodfelling", "Two Hussars", "The Raid", and "A Prisoner of the Caucasus". "How Much Land Does a Man Need" was meh. The rest were awful: They were overly moral religious fables that repulsed me with their saccharine nature. However, the few short stories that were good were very good, so I have to settle on four stars.

[Tonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read How Much Land Does A Man Need? and What Men Live By. Loved the lessons and how Tolstoy executes them, though the Christian beliefs were just a bit too much at certain times.. I still really enjoyed them and Tolstoy as a whole. I also LOVE the Bookclub that Emma and Carolyn are doing, DickensVSTolstoy on YouTube.

[Aine Jurada · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the best story I've ever read considering it to be a short story I was extremely satisfied and no questions was left in my mind. The philosophy of how much land a man needs is so fascinating where when we're alive we can be greedy about the amount of land we thought we need but the truth is the only amount of land we need is not that big as we thought (the land needed to bury us in)

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of Tolstoy short stories. It is a wonderful introduction to him if you do not have experience with his work. It was a gift from an atheist friend to give me an alternative to the Christian worldview. Instead, it reaffirmed my faith, especially in the story "How much land does a man need." I have bought a dozen or so copies and given them all as gifts.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful collection of short stories, and one novella, written in the mid 19th century. Most of these have as subject one of two settings: either some military engagement in the Caucusus, or anecdotes that illustrate Christian love. Tolstoy's lucid descriptions of nature and his mastery of motivation shine through.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this short story collection! Tolstoy's writing is descriptive without being overly wordy. He also has a great way of drawing you into the story, whether it be an epic like War and Peace, or a story that contains snippets of army life, or Christian parables. There's a reason why they call him one of the greatest authors of all time.

[Theresa Petty · Rating 3 out of 5]

These short stories didn’t have a lot going on. I was wanting to dip my toe into Tolstoy, and I feel like I did, but now I’m left without much inspiration to continue. I will still read his more popular books, but I might wait a bit.

[Garrett Gomez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always good to expand the source material for some of the best authors; and in this case open up the pysche to russian literature as a whole. Good series of Tolsoty's stories in addition to anything else one ight read coming out of Russia during this period.

[Clark Norris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Booorrrriiiinnnngggg. Picked up at morris cottage on a whim. I should have known it would be a little dull based on the description of “biblical simplicity” on the back. Kind of feels bad that this is my first foray into Russian lit. Will still read Anna K one day!!

[Gabby Harefa · Rating 4 out of 5]

the stories are too good I burst a tears.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story made quite an impression on me in high school, and it continues to do so. My kids loved it, too. A quick read and worthwhile.

[Bernice Puleng Mosala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really intriguing stories about faith and endurance. I enjoyed it thoroughly!